


Honey From Water Lilies

by bourbonbucky



Series: Dominion Hymns [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Bottom Castiel, Demigod Castiel, M/M, Pagan God Dean, Pagan God Dean Winchester, Teen Castiel, Top Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-14 13:04:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3411650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bourbonbucky/pseuds/bourbonbucky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The love of a god isn't an easy birth right, nor is the blood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Divine

The lower priests showed up a couple days ago, and since the moment they got here they’ve been telling him he's beautiful, _divine_. Castiel doesn't understand half of what they’re saying, and the way they talk about him like he isn’t right there is frustrating. When the head priest finally arrives he acts differently than the others, not looking past him or around him.  He picks Castiel up and hands him a big blue marble. It’s heavier than the glass shooters Uncle Raph got him during the last festival. Almost like it’s made of stone. The center glows when he holds it, light spinning and jumping, tickling his fingers and making him laugh.

The priest takes the marble away and smiles at Castiel like he’s done something to be proud of.

His momma holds him tight in her lap, trying to keep him from squirming too much. It isn’t his fault he’s so awake; it’s almost night time. The head priest sitting in the chair across from them still hasn’t stopped smiling.

"Naomi, you said he was born at night. Do you remember what time, or what phase the moon was in?" Even though the priest never gave his name, Castiel knows it like it’s been whispered in his ear: Michael. Castiel knows a lot about Michael, though he doesn’t know how or why.

Michael is a lot older than his momma, even though he doesn’t look it. Castiel knows Michael can’t be drowned, that he isn’t afraid of the dark and normally doesn’t wear quite so many clothes. He's wearing silver robes made of silk with dark blue trim and pretty flowers embroidered all over. This means that Michael works in the Moon God's temple.

Dean is the one a lot of people in their country worship, even his momma, but he isn’t her patron. Mostly she worships Dean's mom, Mary, like a lot of mothers do. Her job as mayor means she also has a few statues for Ellen. People have always said Castiel knows a lot about the Pantheon for such a young boy.

He tunes back into the conversation when Michael starts talking to him. "Castiel, when did your hair start to change color?"

"After I took a bath outside." Castiel used to have light hair, the same soft brown as his cousin Gabriel's. Recently, it’s been getting darker with each passing night. Now it’s the same brown as his momma’s, but there are even darker streaks showing up.

"Where did you take this bath?" Michael's hair is dark, too. Castiel wonders if his own hair will end up that color.

"In the pond out back." His momma always tried to keep him away from the pond because it was deep and she didn't want him to fall in, but Castiel was too stubborn to listen. He’s liked swimming since before he could even walk, he’s sure.

Last week he snuck out back after bedtime and hopped in the water without any of his clothes. It felt really nice, all cool and soft. It was different than when he took a bath inside. He could see a shape in the water with him, like someone holding him and keeping him from falling under. There were lights, too, like all the stars in the sky were floating around under his feet. They tickled him.

Michael smiles like he can see the memory, then looks back up at his momma. "It's a good thing your friends from the goddess Mary's temple called us, Miss Novak. Your son is very important."

"Important?" His momma holds him tighter, but Castiel already knows that won't change anything. He's going to be leaving with Michael soon.

His momma doesn't want to let him go at first, but she does when Michael explains just how important Castiel is. He’s different than any other human on the planet, special. Michael lifts him away from his momma and walks back to his room, picking up all of the shells Castiel's been keeping on his window sill. Another priest walks in, this one older and stern looking. He hands Michael a smaller version of the silver robe and then stands in the doorway while Michael undresses and redresses Castiel.

The silk is so soft and cool on his skin that Castiel feels like falling asleep in it. Michael chuckles quietly when he yawns and picks him back up, then turns to the other priest, one Castiel knows is a scribe of their god, and gestures around the room.

"Zachariah, gather anything of Castiel's you think is significant and meet us on the bus. We'll go to the local church and leave once the sun sets." Michael carries Castiel out of the house, giving his momma a small smile and letting her kiss him before they leave.

Castiel knows he won't ever be coming back here.

▬▬▬

The bus is big and comfortable, a lot more like a small house on wheels than what Castiel goes to school and temple in. There are six priests in total and all of them are kind to him, even Zachariah. The scribe isn't overly polite, but he's truthful and he shares his chocolate. Michael scolds him in another language and Castiel giggles at the abashed look on the old priest's face. Everyone smiles when he laughs and it makes him feel more comfortable, like he's floating.

The patrons in the church stare at him, backing away as Michael carries him down to the basement. Castiel has never been in the basement before, the way down is normally locked with magic. There are four doors, all painted different colors to represent different gods. Castiel knows Dean's is the dark blue one with silver flecks. Michael raises his hand like he's going to touch it, but Castiel reaches out first. He puts his palm flat against the wood and listens as all the locks fall away. Michael seems startled for a moment, but quickly opens the door.

Now the priests are staring at him, too.

There's a bed set in the floor of the room that looks big enough for a dozen people. Michael and the others sit around him in a circle while he lays down for a nap, feeling more tired than he thinks he's ever been.

Castiel wakes up with his head shoved in someone's chest and strong arms wrapped around him. He thinks it's Michael for a moment until he backs up and finds that it's the one of the younger priests, Inias. Getting out of the man’s arms is easy, but he has to be quiet. Inias looks so pretty nestled into the blankets and Castiel takes a second to run his small fingers over the curve of the priest's lips and jaw. He pulls away before the young man wakes and tries to stand, falling back over when his legs get tangled in someone’s robe.

Michael grunts softly but doesn't stir when the full weight of a six-year-old boy lands in the center on his back. Castiel huffs and wriggles around until he's on his tummy and can crawl out of his clothes. He stands on the cold stone floor and looks around the room.

A few feet away from the bed is a small pool of water. Flowers float around the surface in shades of red and purple, and a window high up in the wall lets moonlight in to shine on them. Castiel tiptoes to the edge of the water and sits down, letting his legs dangle in. All the flowers float toward him, and petals that have fallen to the bottom rise up and tickle his feet. There are small fish under the flowers that swim around his legs and between his toes, jumping up out of the water and throwing themselves at him. He gasps when one lands on his leg and picks it up as gently as he can to get a better look.

The head is black, but its eyes are a shiny white and the rest of its body is bright green, almost glowing. It has feathery fins and flops around his palm. He drops it back in the water and feels the silk of a robe against his back. The priests are starting to wake up and move around behind him, but he doesn't want to go yet.

A cool hand rubs between his shoulders and the sole priestess of the group gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, Castiel, it's time to go."

He kicks around in the water more and pouts. "I want to swim, Krissy."

She smiles and leans in close like she's going to tell him a secret. "We have fonts just like this at the temple, but a lot bigger. You can swim in them all you want when we get there. Deal?"

Castiel looks at Krissy a little closer, she's the youngest of the group other than him and the only one with brown eyes. He touches her cheek and squints at her. "Dean picked you, didn't he?"

Her eyes go wide, and she stops breathing for a second and nods. "Yeah, yeah he did."

Michael's big hands gather him up under the arms, spinning him around and holding him close again. "We need to get you dressed again, Castiel. Krissy’s right; it's time for us to leave."

Krissy stands and hands Michael Castiel's robes before following Inias out the door. Castiel looks back at Michael as he’s being dressed. "Did I say something I shouldn't have?"

Michael smiles and kisses him on the forehead. "They just aren't used to you yet, Castiel. They need some time. Everything will be fine when we reach the temple."

▬▬▬

It takes them almost two days to reach the temple. Castiel sleeps through most of the trip until they enter the forest that houses Dean's altar tree. As they drive by he's feels like he’s vibrating out of his skin, face plastered to the window and almost crying in frustration. He pleads for them to stop and let him out, but they won’t. Michael holds him and tries to keep him calm, but it’s no use. He knows the tree is important, and he wants to see it. He wants to climb the branches and eat the flowers and berries growing up at the top. It’s _important_ and he knows they know this, but he doesn’t understand why they won’t listen to him.

Michael looks at him sadly and tells him that it isn't their place to take him. Castiel shoves his hands against Michael's chest and watches the whole tree shiver and sway with him. The wind and wood groan, crying out for him in return. It only calms him enough to keep him from screaming. Michael holds him close and sings to him in a language that he can feel on his skin.

Once the sun sets Castiel is quiet again, staring out at the stars and the moon. He puts his hands up and cups the shape of the moon between them, smiling as the light tickles his palms. The bus leaves the treeline and makes a right turn, giving Castiel full view of the lake and the temple standing proudly at the center. He stands up in Michael’s lap and stares. The temple is huge, multiple buildings spread out and floating on the water like the flowers back at the church.

When the bus is parked, Castiel jumps out of the seat he and Michael share and runs for the doors. Zachariah barely opens them in time for him not to smack face-first into the glass. Krissy follows him and scoops him up in her arms, giving him a better vantage point. The moon is full above them, and Castiel can see every detail of the temple better than if they were in broad daylight. The pictures his cousin Ion showed him after becoming a priest almost seem insulting now that he’s seeing it in person.

More than a dozen buildings make up the whole temple, all of them made from rough, dark green stone with white veins. Vines hug the walls and pretty white flowers grow on the roofs, all of them in bloom and letting out a sweet smell that the wind carries all the way to the shore. Almost half the lake is covered in the same red and purple flowers that were in the church, but these have little lights in their centers. The more he looks, the more his skin itches. He needs to be in the water.

Castiel squirms around until Krissy puts him down, saying something that he isn’t paying attention to. He takes his robes off and runs toward the water. Someone else is shouting for him, but he doesn’t stop until his feet start splashing on the surface.

This isn’t like taking a bath in the pond behind his house; this water feels solid beneath his feet so long as he wants it to. Flowers brush against his ankles, and he picks one of them up, gasping when the petals start glowing in his hands. He can see now that the glowing lights are pollen, like bright silver dust has been sprinkled down into each blossom. He dips his fingers in it and sniffs it, feeling it tickle the inside of his nose.

He drops his flower and stumbles back a bit, each step taking him deeper into the water. Michael shouts for him, but he can’t understand what’s being said. The tickling turns to itching and Castiel sneezes hard and loses his concentration, falling into the water.

Moonlight pierces the water between the flowers, shafts of it kissing his skin as he slowly floats back up. Hands touch his sides and for a second he thinks Michael swam out to him, lifting him up so he can breathe again. But when he looks out at the shore, he sees that Michael has only just entered the water, standing in the shallows with his robes floating around his hips.

Castiel stares because Michael is pretty and the robes hide his muscles. The hands on Castiel’s sides turn him around and he wonders how he didn’t know before. Bright green eyes fill his vision and make his breath catch in his chest. A wide smile makes the moon flare brighter in the sky, and Castiel feels like his insides have all been soaked through, filled up and steadied. He leans forward and puts his hands on the chest he’s being held against.

“Hey, Cas.” The voice fills him with comfort.

Castiel takes a deep breath and blinks, making sure this isn’t another dream like when he was really little. He offers a shy smile. “Hello, Dean.”

▬▬▬

None of the priests talk, not even Michael. Castiel runs around in one of the fonts that Krissy described. It’s shallow and filled with big, white fish that he thinks are called koi. One of his momma’s favorite restaurants had a big aquarium full of them, but they weren’t nearly as happy as the ones here. He chases them through the water and giggles when they wiggle against his fingers.

Dean looks like a teenager, not even ten years older than Castiel is. It’s not what he really looks like; he’s just making himself seem that way. Every time Castiel looks back, he sees Michael and Dean watching him. Everything in this room is alive, even the air, and all of it is happy to see him. One of the fish jumps out of the water and splashes him with its tail. He laughs and runs after it until it darts through a hole in the side of the pool and goes back into the lake.

The water moves behind him and catches his attention, making him turn and see a version of Dean his same age and state of undress hopping into the water. He’s paler like this, and his pretty freckles are easier to see. Castiel can pick out a few of the major constellations as Dean gets closer.

Dean puts one hand forward, and Castiel takes it eagerly. His skin tingles where he and Dean are touching, and it makes him hold onto Dean’s hand tighter. Dean smiles at him when he does, and the whole room gets brighter with it.

“C’mon, Cas, I’ll show you your room.” Dean tugs him out of the font and through the doors.

The air is cold on his skin as they run across the bridges between each building, some of them appearing only as he and Dean approach. The central structure looks more like a broken-off piece of mountain covered in flowers than an actual building, and there are stairs carved into the face of the rock rather than being built onto it. All of it is natural, pure. There is nothing out of place here.

Castiel climbs the stairs with Dean and wonders how he ever thought he could fit anywhere else.


	2. Flesh

Castiel hides his face in his pillow and sighs. It’s barely past sundown, and he wants to sleep in. Soon one of the priests will come get him, carting him off to some lesson. History or magic today, probably. Something boring. Maybe if he gets up before they come, he can sneak off to the forest and pick fruit out of the Altar Tree.

Except that last time he tried, Inias found him anyway. They all know him too well. Living in a place for ten years tends to do that.

He waits for nearly an hour, enjoying the silence of the room around him. It takes him nearly as long to fully wake, relaxed as he is. The bed is soft and cool on his skin. The valley the temple is in gets humid and hot during the summer. Dean always smiles fondly as he complains. He always promises that one day Castiel will be able to come and go freely. Not just from the temple, but across the world as a whole. By now Castiel knows what he is, who he is. Dean’s Chosen, a human born to be a demigod.

He’s thought about it everyday since they told him almost three years ago. It makes the distant memories of his childhood make more sense. Especially the bath he took in the pond. Dean had been with him, even then. He wants Dean to take him, to make him into what he’s supposed to be.

Every time he asks, though, Dean just says, “when you’re older, Cas.”

Castiel rolls over onto his back, arms flung out wide above his head. He can tell Dean’s in the temple even before the curtain to his room opens. It’s one of the priests, a younger one that just arrived and is prone to blushing whenever he’s near Castiel.

“The God is here to see you, Castiel.” His voice is small and reverent.

Castiel kicks his sheets away, uncaring of his own nudity. The priest gasps, and Castiel grins softly. “He knows he can come in.”

Dean is at least wearing shorts, but Castiel knows he can easily get them off. “You’re not playing fair, Cas. Alfie’s a virgin. You shouldn’t tease him.”

“You’re one to talk about teasing, Dean.” Castiel means to be playful, but instead he sounds somber.

Dean sighs and lies down next to him in bed. This form is the oldest Castiel has seen, looking maybe two or three years older than Michael. A beautiful version of Dean in his mid-thirties. Short scruff dusts his jaw, and all Castiel wants is to lean over and kiss it. Instead, he buries his face in Dean’s bicep, scooting close so he’s pressed to Dean entirely.

They lie there like that for a moment, quiet and a little awkward. Then Dean moves his arm and pulls Castiel’s head to his chest. He rubs across Castiel’s back and side, his hand pleasantly warm and heavy enough that it feels grounding.

“Talk to me, Cas. You’re not happy.”

It surprises Castiel to hear Dean speaking so plainly. The last time he’d been unhappy, Dean hadn’t asked him about it. Instead, he’d shown up unannounced and taken him to another country, where they played with birds and cats. That was when Castiel met Dean’s animal companion: a giant cat, almost like a tiger, with blue-black fur covered in gray and white spots that looked like the craters on the moon. He’d only been seven, and she’d stood almost a foot taller than him at the shoulder.

When he was last unhappy, it was because he felt homesick around his mother’s birthday. But he hasn’t felt sadness or longing for home in years now.

Dean squeezes him when he remains quiet, offering strength and comfort. Castiel sighs contently and closes his eyes. “You keep saying no.”

“You don’t know what you’re agreeing to, Cas. You’re too young.” Dean’s voice is strained, his grip on Castiel getting tighter and tighter. It hurts Dean, too; it has to. That only confuses Castiel further.

He pulls away from Dean, standing up and pacing across the floor. “I was too young when Michael came to my house and forced my mother to give me up so he could bring me to you. I was six, Dean. I couldn’t consent to what was happening, then. But I can now, and I’m saying yes.”

Dean sits up in the bed with his legs bent, resting his elbows on his knees. “That right there is why I’m not gonna let you say yes, yet. What you’re asking for can’t be undone. If you decide in ten more years that you made a mistake, there’s nothing either of us can do about it.”

Castiel rolls his eyes and paces in a circle, restless enough that the lake is responding to his distress. The whole temple rocks as waves break across the walls. “That’s not what I meant for you to take from that.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Dean stands and walks over to him, stopping him with gentle hands on his shoulders. The lake calms, though the temple still moves. “I will give you what you’re asking for, Cas, I promise, but not yet.”

Castiel leans forward and rests his head against Dean’s shoulder, comforted by the contact despite his frustration with the deity. “You’re hardly ever here. Everything is so quiet when you’re gone, Dean. The temple is empty without you, and I can’t go with you unless you make me yours.”

“I know.” Dean hooks a finger under his chin and tilts his head up until they’re looking each other in the eye. “I can give you anything else you want, Cas. Anything under my domain, alright? I can make you new stars, build you a new temple to live in, if you want.”

The air is heavy around them, the smell of the flowers on the lake being blown in through the window. Moonlight pours across Castiel’s back, pressing into his tense muscles like fingers to try and relax him. He doesn’t know what to say, what he wants if Dean won’t remake him.

Dean frowns, then looks up at the moon, a piece of his flesh hanging in the sky and reflecting light from his brother back onto the planet. “I can change my face, move the craters and everything around until you like it more.”

Castiel smiles for just a second as he listens to Dean’s offers. He knows Dean would make good on every single one. Anything Castiel asks, Dean will do for him, just to make him happy. It’s what makes Dean such a wonderful god to serve. He takes care of his followers, blesses and defends them without hesitation. Perhaps the strangest thing about him is that he’s as vulnerable as a human. Just as prone to doubting himself and just as fearful of losing the ones he cares about. Castiel might be the only one who knows it, but it’s true.

Dean looks back at him, eyes glowing softly. “Tell me how to fix this.”

Castiel cups Dean’s face in his hands. “I just want to be closer to you.”

Lips press to his palm, Dean closing his eyes as he kisses his way to Castiel’s wrist. “I can be here anytime you want.”

The stubble around Dean’s lips tickles Castiel’s skin, making him smile. “I was actually thinking of something more immediate.”

Dean makes a questioning noise as he turns his head and kisses Castiel’s other hand. “Tell me.”

Castiel swallows roughly, and he wonders if Dean can hear his heart speeding up. “Alfie isn’t the only virgin in the temple.”

The kisses stop, and Dean opens his eyes. He takes a slow breath and stands at full height in front of Castiel, almost a full head taller in this form. “Cas, giving me this—”

“I’ve been trying to give you more for the past three years, but you won’t let me.” Castiel wraps his arms around Dean’s shoulders and pulls them flush together.

Dean grabs his sides, and Castiel can feel his hands shaking. “Wouldn’t you rather do this with another human? Michael, maybe?”

“Not for my first time.” Castiel kisses the bolt of Dean’s jaw, then slides his lips along the stubbled skin until he can speak into Dean’s ear. “The prophecy says I’m yours already, Dean. Just fucking take me.”

Dean gives a full-body shiver and grabs at him, hauling him up from the ground by his ass. Suspended in the air, he presses his mouth to Dean’s. A god probably shouldn’t sound so wounded while kissing. Castiel moans and kicks at Dean’s shorts clumsily, pleased when they’re suddenly gone.

The touch of moonlight on his skin changes, digging in and pulling at him like it could rip him right into the sky and keep him there. It’s a promise, he knows. He believes that Dean will give him what he wants, what he was born to have, but it won’t be any time soon, and that frustrates him. At least he can have this.

They turn for the bed, and Castiel breaks the kiss. “Not here.”

Dean frowns, but stops. “Then where?”

A slow smile spreads Castiel’s lips. “The Font.”

Light flares in the whites of Dean’s eyes, glowing for a just a moment before it dies back down. Castiel knew the effect before he even spoke the words. The Font is the holiest spot in the temple, a pool of water never touched by sun and always touched by the moon. He found it on his own years ago, used to swim and bathe in it. Dean used to play with him. Those memories alone are practically sacrilege.

Dean nods as the shadows grab them and consume them. It’s only a second, but the darkness is total, complete. Castiel feels so at peace in it. Then the light of the moon is back, and they’re floating along the lake at the edge of the Font’s platform.

The flowers that always grace the lake’s surface float toward them, the pollen dusting their centers glowing brighter as they near. Dean steps into the water and goes to his knees with Castiel still in his arms. The water crawls up Castiel’s skin as they enter it, another aspect of Dean fighting to touch him. He sighs just before his head goes under the surface.

For a moment he holds his breath, content until his lungs begin to burn. Dean just looms over him in the water, calm and still. He has faith, so he shoves his fear aside and breathes. The smile Dean gives him is clear through the holy water they’re lying in. It fills his lungs beautifully, heavier and more fulfilling than air.

The water presses against his skin as a formless touch, massaging down his back, but stopping just shy of Dean’s hands on his ass. Everything is trying to consume him here. No matter if he is Dean’s Chosen, the only human alive who can bear a god’s power, he is still just a human. Dean is almost as old as this planet. From the time that humans had a word for the moon, Dean has been alive. The power he holds is as eternal as the lights in the night sky, the shadows they create, and the water that sustains all life.

Dean is one of the most powerful gods in the whole pantheon, and Castiel is offering himself up at the altar for whatever brutality or tenderness a god can show.

Castiel hikes his legs up higher and gasps when he feels the water brush against his hole with intent. The touch presses into him, urging him to relax and open. Dean smiles against his skin as he arches his back and accepts more holy water into his body.

The pool is restless around them, the water warming with every breath Castiel takes. Maybe they should have gone to the bottom of the lake, into pure shadow and darkness, no air for a hundred feet. Moonlight is dancing over his face, playing with his hair and skin. If they’d gone that deep, he’d have missed this touch.

Dean slides a finger into him, replacing the water that was working him open. He’s done this to himself enough, spread his legs in front of his window and shown Dean all of himself. Provoking a god is much harder than it sounds. He relaxes, safe and complete under the water and under Dean.

There’s no rush, not really, but Dean’s touch is still urgent and impatient. Castiel’s eyes flutter as Dean slips another finger in and opens him enough to allow some water back inside. Whispers fill the water, sweet words pouring into him. He’s heard these same whispers in his dreams when Dean’s visited him, ones where they’ve walked side by side and Castiel has felt a taste of the power Dean has waiting for him.

Castiel pushes down on Dean’s fingers, drawing them all the way in. The water around them shakes, vibrating like the Earth around them is quaking. Dean bites at his shoulder and slips another finger in easily. His hole is spread wide with holy water and Dean’s fingers fucking him. He can feel the water twisting erratically, shifting around inside him, rubbing him everywhere Dean isn’t already touching.

It can’t just be curiosity driving the frenzy. For all that Dean has played at being patient all these years, he does want to claim Castiel. Every dream, every idle touch and soothing word, all of them have been poor attempts to cope with the desperation they both feel.

Dean presses a firm kiss just beneath Castiel’s ear and pulls his fingers out, the water sliding away with them. Castiel turns his head so he can press his mouth to Dean’s, offering up the water in his lungs as he spreads his legs wider. However much Dean wants to take, he’ll give.

The kiss breaks as Dean pulls back enough to look him in the eye. Castiel’s knees are just beneath Dean’s shoulders; he's bent almost in half as Dean finally starts sliding into him. He shifts his hips and tries to get Dean to move faster, but the god just smiles at him and grabs his waist to keep him still.

A quiet echo fills the water, Dean’s voice teasing him. “You offered to serve. Now be good for me.”

Castiel whines and glares at Dean as best he can, but it just earns him another amused grin. Dean bottoms out and grinds against his ass, filling him as much as possible, then pulls back until Castiel feels almost empty. He only has a second to mourn the feeling before Dean thrusts back in quickly.

He throws his head back and smacks it against the stone of the pool. Dean lifts him up and holds him so close there isn’t even an inch of space left between them.

“Careful, Cas.” Dean kisses below his ear and grinds into him again, taking his time to savor the body offered up so freely to his use.

Castiel shivers and turns his head to the side, praying that Dean might leave a mark. If he truly is Dean’s, then he wants something left behind to prove it.

Dean growls and bites at his neck. “You’re proof enough on your own, Cas. You’re mine. The blood in your veins, every inch of your skin, your soul and life are mine. I don’t need to mark what’s already mine.”

Castiel digs his nails into Dean’s skin and rolls his hips to meet each thrust as a familiar heat builds in his stomach. He feels so full, as close to complete as he’s ever been. His heart beats hard in his chest and he’s sure Dean can hear it, can feel it. The water moves against his skin like hands, greedy to feel him and be felt.

Dean’s arms wrap tight around his midsection, and then he’s being hauled up above the surface. He forces the water out of his lungs, the air almost too light when he inhales it. Moonlight dancing across his skin makes up for it. It curls around his ear and whispers like a song, encouraging him to give into the pleasure, to give himself up. Stubble-dusted kisses scratch along his jaw, Dean’s breath ragged in his ear.

He can only cling while Dean fucks up into him roughly, the new angle punching every noise out of his mouth, turning his moans into sobs as his cock throbs between them. A feather light touch tickles his head and foreskin, little slivers of moonlight greedy to push him to completion. Shadow grabs wherever the moon can’t touch, every inch of his skin burning. They work him over so softly it hurts, swirling around the head and barely grazing his balls.

His breath gets caught in his chest, his head airy and floating as ringing fills his ears. Light explodes behind his eyes as he comes, and he almost wonders if Dean can see it. Come splashes up his chest, painting him in hot stripes as he clenches and squeezes Dean.

If Dean wasn’t holding him, he’s sure he’d just collapse where he is, soil the holy water further and have his lungs fill with water all over again. Dean’s thrusts jolt his entire body, forcing his breath from him the rougher they become. Castiel looks at the moon and sees a halo of light around it swell, then break apart as Dean stills inside him and groans. The stars seem to shake in the sky with the sound, but that could also just be Castiel himself shaking.

He breathes out a sigh as Dean kisses up his neck. It’s not everything he wants, but it’s more than enough to soothe the restless parts of him. The font moves back toward the temple, ready to be taken in and cleaned.

Castiel smiles and catches a kiss as he thinks about the priests cleaning come out of the basin. Dean chuckles and nips his lower lip.

Shadows swallow them, and then they’re back in Castiel’s room. He pulls away from Dean and sprawls out in his bed on his stomach. Gentle touches crawl up his back and all around his legs, the shadows that pulled them back here greedy for more of what the moon and water got. More aspects of his god’s greed.

Dean sits at the head of his bed and chases shadows out of his hair. “I can stay until morning.”

Castiel looks up at Dean and leans into the hand sliding down to cradle his jaw. “You could stay later.”

A flash of old loneliness and sadness returns in an instant as Dean smiles at him. “I have to stay with the moon, you know that. I can come back every night, but I can’t be here in the day.”

If Dean didn’t look miserable about it, too, Castiel could be angry. But he trusts Dean, and he knows his god never breaks a promise.

“You’ll come back every night?” Castiel grabs Dean’s hand where it sits on his cheek.

Dean nods and gives a small grin. “Every night, Cas.”

It won’t make sunlight hurt any less, but he might be able to live easier if his nights aren’t empty.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is like 2 months late. depression kinda ruins writing schedules :[ anyway, beta work done by the incomparable [eliza](http://imnotleavinherewithoutyou.tumblr.com/), who fixes basically everything ever and is just awesome. she's also a fantastic writer and my best friend so how's that for bonuses? 
> 
> thank you for reading, please let me know what you think with a comment :3


	3. Consumed

The children sing beautifully, their voices like bells ringing through the halls. Castiel can hear them from his room, little priests- and priestesses-to-be sent from all over the world to study here at the lake temple. Dean was as surprised as anyone when the stars moved to make this year his year. He’d been downright bashful about it.

Castiel felt it was a sign. The stars and the Earth joining to tell them it was finally time. After sixteen years of waiting and making do with a maddening amount of absence, Castiel was finally ready to be made into who he was born to be. Dean would touch his soul and claim him in his entirety.

All the priests have remarked at his progress. He’s grown into his abilities as the Chosen. Michael says soon there won’t be anything left they can teach him. If even they can see it, then surely Dean does too.

For the last ten years Dean has kept true to his word, never missing a single night in Castiel’s company. It isn’t all sex, of course. Sometimes Dean brings him gifts from all around the world. Flowers and honey from temples oceans away that he’ll be able to visit when he’s remade. His room is full of a world he’s never seen.

Outside the sun finally sinks completely below the horizon. Castiel can feel it leave in his blood. The night is truly present, and Dean will be here soon.

Castiel walks onto the balcony Dean built him last year. The jasmine started blooming last week, filling the air with a scent he wishes he could wear. He watches the last sliver of lightness in the sky shrink, a smile lifting his lips when he feels Dean arrive. He’s been coming in through the front door since the children arrived, greeting and blessing them. Dean is a very active and loving god. Castiel feels lucky to be his Chosen. He watches the last of the orange in the sky fade to a bloody red as Dean makes his way up into the tower.

Warmth fills his body, the same way it always does, and he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Want to go for a walk?” Dean asks.

Castiel stands and nods, feeling the shadows overtake him as soon as he does. Darkness covers his eyes for just a moment, and when it’s gone he and Dean are in the forest at the edge of the lake. The air is charged here, filled with excitement. He’s used to the way the land around the temple responds to Dean, calls to him, but this is more than Castiel has ever felt before. It’s almost like it’s reacting to him as well.

Dean walks quickly toward the altar tree. Neither of them speaks; they just keep moving faster and faster until Castiel is running after Dean, both of them laughing at what feels like a game of tag. With all his age, Dean is still young in spirit.

The forest opens up in a clearing around the tree, whose thick trunk towers above the canopy. Castiel hadn’t realized how much it’s grown in the last year. Dean grabs him by the shoulders and pushes him with his back against the tree. A rough wind whips around the tree and tears through the forest, its sound creating a roar that sends a shiver down Castiel’s spine. He meets Dean’s eyes, the whites of them turned black as the sky and bleeding steadily into his irises. Small points of light fade in, and Castiel holds his breath as he sees constellations float across Dean’s eyes. He reaches up and cups Dean’s face in his hands.

A loving smile curls Dean’s lips as he leans in and presses them to Castiel’s. Dean presses himself flat against Castiel, his hands rough and desperate as they slide down to Castiel’s hips. The wind picks up as Castiel slides his tongue into Dean’s mouth. There’s so much energy in the air Castiel worries where it will all go.

Dean breaks the kiss and pants against his skin, licking his jaw and down to his neck. “Happy birthday, Cas.”

Castiel frowns and tilts his head to offer Dean more of his skin. As he opens his mouth to speak, to say it isn’t actually his birthday, the understanding washes over him. He grabs Dean’s head and pulls him back, searching the reflection of the sky in Dean’s eyes, connecting the dots of the constellation floating there. It’s the one he was born under.

Dean’s throat clicks on a swallow, and Castiel can feel how nervous he is. “Please say yes.”

Castiel’s entire body deflates, a weight he’s held for sixteen years disappearing. “I’ve been saying yes for thirteen years. Of course, yes, please!”

Dean wastes no time in putting his mouth back over Castiel’s. For a moment Castiel confuses it for a kiss, but then he feels the burn of starlight pouring down his throat. It fills his chest first, then surges outward into every inch of his body. The charge that had been following them drains from the air and fills him instead. Light rushes into his head and out of his eyes, blinding him. There’s no pain, just pure light. He can feel his mortal soul die and come back as something greater. Every star in the universe sings to him, binding themselves to him. The blindness remains for several minutes, and in that time Castiel sees every second of his life replaying in front of him. The wind settles, and when it dies down entirely, Castiel feels himself slipping into unconsciousness. The shadows overtake him again and hold him with greed as he lapses into sleep.

When the light of the moon reaches him again, he feels that several hours have passed. The night is darkest, and the sun will rise in two short hours. They’re not in the forest anymore. Instead the roof of the temple is cool and sturdy against his back where he lies. Castiel looks over and sees Dean lying beside him, all traces of his human form gone. His eyes are still dark, and his body looks like a chunk of the moon was ripped out of the sky and molded into the form of a man. There are craters littering his skin that Castiel has seen on the moon above. He reaches out and runs his fingers across Dean’s jaw, dust left behind on his fingertips.

The rock shifts and splits open to form a mouth, more light pouring out as Dean speaks. “Happy birthday, Cas.”

Castiel smiles and closes his eyes, feeling the depth of his power and his connection to Dean. He’s waited for what felt like so long, but it was just a blink compared to the time he has now.

“I have to visit someone,” Castiel says.

“Do you want me to come?” Dean asks.

“Yes, please.” Castiel smiles and looks at Dean again. “Though, you’ll need to bind yourself into a human form again.”

Dean smiles back at him and begins reining in his power.

▬▬▬

The night is quickly turning light, the stars drowned out by the impending sunrise. Castiel stares at his childhood home. He thought it would have been larger. The pond he bathed in so long ago greets him with reverence, the small fish in it coming up as a single school to honor him. Dean stands behind him silently, making himself as small as a god can.

Castiel begins to walk to the house, more at peace than he has been for a while. Right as he steps onto the porch, the back door opens, and his mother steps outside. Her hair has gained some grey over the last twenty years, but she’s still beautiful. There are only a few seconds of confusion before her eyes widen and she has to catch herself against the doorway.

“Castiel?” she asks, her eyes quickly filling with tears.

He smiles and nods. “Hello, Mom.”

She practically leaps into a hug, sobbing into his shoulder. Castiel takes a deep breath and smells her perfume. It’s been twenty years and suddenly all of it is wiped away. He buries his face into his mother’s neck and holds her tightly.

The weight of the time is lifting, peace filling them both. He knows she’s had other children, that he has a sister in all the time he’s been gone. The house hasn’t been left empty around her. There isn’t enough time left in the night for him to stay, but there are decades left for him to visit and reward the woman who gave him life for her patience and sacrifice.

Castiel feels Dean’s fingers gently comb through his hair, and for the first time in his life he feels truly whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> incredibly pleased to have finally finished this. it's taken quite a while to finish because of my depression, and it's a huge relief to have it done and to like the final chapter. so many thanks to my lovely beta, eliza, who is [imnotleavinherewithoutyou](http://imnotleavinherewithoutyou.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. she is both patient and encouraging and saves my ass on the regular.
> 
> please leave a review and let me know what you think of the story. thank you for reading

**Author's Note:**

> heyyy, long time no fic, eh? this has been sitting around unfinished for a damn long time (cough since before halloween of last year), and i want to fix that. here's chapter 1 of 3. sex next chapter, which should go up in one week, two max if my laptop isn't fixed soon like it should be. 
> 
> please, pleeaase comment and tell me what you think! until next time ;]


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